The present invention relates to an indexing device which may be implemented as a bookmark for marking a reader's place in a book. The present invention is particularly directed to such an indexing device which may be releasably secured to the cover of a book and which device will automatically mark a selected reference location between the spread of two leaves of the book without requiring that the reader position the bookmark following each reading session.
In the past, readers of books have found it desirable to mark a book at a selected reference location between successive reading sessions so that the reader does not have to memorize his or her "place" in the book, for example, by remembering the last page number. To avoid remembering this page number, some readers resort to folding a corner of that page. When a reader employs this method of marking the book, those leaves become damaged, torn or otherwise marred so that it is desirable to implement other, mechanical techniques to index the reader's location.
Typical page markers have in the past included paper clips, small strips of paper, cardboard or plastic which may be placed between the spread of two consecutive leaves of the book, or the use of a string or ribbon that may be placed between the leaves. A disadvantage of paper clips, of course, is the possibility of damage to the book leaves. While the other techniques mentioned above are less likely to damage the physical integrity of the book, readers often find that they misplace or lose the mechanical markers where they are not physically secured to the book. To avoid losing the bookmarker, in the case of the ribbon, some manufacturers have permanently attached the ribbon or string in the book's binding, but this solution results in increased manufacturing expense and does not permit the marker to be used on any book other than that to which it is attached. Other manufacturers have included clip mechanisms on strips of plastic which clips may be mounted directly to a leaf of the book, but this technique is comparable to the utilization by some readers of paper clips on the leaves of the book and may again damage the leaf of the book.
Further, all the devices described above require that the reader manually move the index market from place to place for each successive reading session. Many readers find this bothersome. Accordingly, there remains a need for a bookmark which will automatically position itself as a reader turns each consecutive leaf of the book that he or she is reading. There is further a need for such an automatic book marking device which may be employed on numerous different books, both hard-back and paperback, while minimizing any physical damage to the book. The need for such an automatic bookmark extends further to the need for a device which may be mounted fairly securely to the book yet which may be easily removed, when desired.